Neighbor awareness networking password authentication

Abstract

An apparatus comprises a memory and at least one processor in communication with the memory. The at least one processor is to detect, during a discovery window, a neighboring client station that is to perform peer-to-peer Wi-Fi communication via a Neighbor Awareness Networking (NAN) protocol and establish, via a negotiation after the discovery window, a datapath with the neighboring client station, wherein the negotiation includes an exchange of NAN data path setup attributes in parallel with an exchange of encryption cipher attributes and the encryption cipher is based on a simultaneous authentication of equals (SAE) protocol. The SAE protocol can be used to generate key material to encrypt the datapath.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A method performed by a first client device comprising:
 publishing, by the first client device, a service; 
 detecting, by the first client device, during a discovery window, a second client device that is to perform peer-to-peer Wi-Fi communication via a Neighbor Awareness Networking (NAN) protocol with the first client device, wherein the second client device neighbors the first client device; 
 receiving, by the first client device, a notification from the second client device to establish a datapath for the service, wherein the notification includes an identifier and properties associated with the service; and 
 establishing, by the first client device, the datapath with the second client device based on the identifier of the service and configuration properties, wherein the datapath is on a bi-directional Wi-Fi network connection. 
 
     
     
       2. The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the first client device and the second client device are clustered in a first location. 
     
     
       3. The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the NAN protocol enables a plurality of devices to form a NAN cluster, wherein the plurality of devices in the NAN cluster share a common set of NAN parameters. 
     
     
       4. The method according to  claim 3 , wherein the common set of NAN parameters include a time period between consecutive discovery windows, a time duration of the discovery window, a beacon interval, and a NAN discovery channel. 
     
     
       5. The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the first client device sends unicast NAN service discovery frames directly to the neighboring second client device. 
     
     
       6. The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the first client device sends multicast NAN service discovery frames to a plurality of client devices neighboring the first client device. 
     
     
       7. The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the first client device is a responder and wherein the second client device is an initiator. 
     
     
       8. The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the first client device and the second client device are a mobile device or wearable device. 
     
     
       9. A first client device comprising:
 a memory; and 
 at least one processor in communication with the memory, wherein the at least one processor is configured to:
 publish, by the first client device, a service; 
 detect, by the first client device, during a discovery window, a second client device that is to perform peer-to-peer Wi-Fi communication via a Neighbor Awareness Networking (NAN) protocol with the first client device, wherein the second client device neighbors the first client device; 
 receive, by the first client device, a notification from the second client device to establish a datapath for the service, wherein the notification includes an identifier and properties associated with the service; and 
 establish, by the first client device, the datapath with the second client device based on the identifier of the service and configuration properties, wherein the datapath is on a bi-directional Wi-Fi network connection. 
 
 
     
     
       10. The first client device according to  claim 9 , wherein the first client device and the second client device are clustered in a first location. 
     
     
       11. The first client device according to  claim 9 , wherein the NAN protocol enables a plurality of devices to form a NAN cluster, wherein the plurality of devices in the NAN cluster share a common set of NAN parameters. 
     
     
       12. The first client device according to  claim 11 , wherein the common set of NAN parameters include a time period between consecutive discovery windows, a time duration of the discovery window, a beacon interval, and a NAN discovery channel. 
     
     
       13. The first client device according to  claim 9 , wherein the first client device sends unicast NAN service discovery frames directly to the neighboring second client device. 
     
     
       14. The first client device according to  claim 9 , wherein the first client device sends multicast NAN service discovery frames to a plurality of client devices neighboring the first client device. 
     
     
       15. A non-transitory machine-readable medium storing instructions to cause one or more processors of a first client device to perform one or more operations comprising:
 publishing, by the first client device, a service; 
 detecting, by the first client device, during a discovery window, a second client device that is to perform peer-to-peer Wi-Fi communication via a Neighbor Awareness Networking (NAN) protocol with the first client device, wherein the second client device neighbors the first client device; 
 receiving, by the first client device, a notification from the second client device to establish a datapath for the service, wherein the notification includes an identifier and properties associated with the service; and 
 establishing, by the first client device, the datapath with the second client device based on the identifier of the service and configuration properties, wherein the datapath is on a bi-directional Wi-Fi network connection. 
 
     
     
       16. The non-transitory machine-readable medium according to  claim 15 , wherein the first client device and the second client device are clustered in a first location. 
     
     
       17. The non-transitory machine-readable medium according to  claim 15 , wherein the NAN protocol enables a plurality of devices to form a NAN cluster, wherein the plurality of devices in the NAN cluster share a common set of NAN parameters. 
     
     
       18. The non-transitory machine-readable medium according to  claim 17 , wherein the common set of NAN parameters include a time period between consecutive discovery windows, a time duration of the discovery window, a beacon interval, and a NAN discovery channel. 
     
     
       19. The non-transitory machine-readable medium according to  claim 15 , wherein the first client device sends unicast NAN service discovery frames directly to the neighboring second client device. 
     
     
       20. The non-transitory machine-readable medium according to  claim 15 , wherein the first client device sends multicast NAN service discovery frames to a plurality of client devices neighboring the first client device.